Roberts Space Industries Website reveals stretch goals for Star Citizen, the upcoming space simulation from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, along with a new Star Citizen Ships Development Document with details on the spacecraft being created for the project (thanks Matt). They don't reconcile the separate crowdsourcing efforts between that site and Kickstarter, but they do confirm the game has raised its overall goal of two million dollars, and they are offering separate stretch goals for each, which will likely inspire more interest in the project, and possibly some confusion. Here's word on the two sets of stretch goals and plans to extend their internal fundraising effort to coincide with the external one:

So, we’ve heard you: our backers deserve a stretch goal system that isn’t just about game design but about rewarding our incredible community. To that end, we’ve developed two campaigns: one specifically for Kickstarter and one for the whole project. They still showcase our big ideas… but they also make the rest of the funding period about you.

The idea is that the money collected on Kickstarter and the money raised here on the RSI site will be pooled together and count towards the overall stretch goals which are listed here.

Our next goal is $750,000 on Kickstarter. That is within reach as I type this message! When we get there, every backer will start the game with a class I repair bot. Here’s the backstory:

The legend on the Saga Datasystems’ AMX-1 Repair Droid bot box says “a pilot’s best friend” and few experienced flyers would disagree. Thanks to a network of nine telescoping flex arms, the AMX-1 can access and repair any standard ship system with ease. Though it lacks the full speech boards and the emotional memory cores of more expensive models, the trademark whirring and beeping of an AMX is a welcome sound for anyone charting a path between the stars.

Next up is our main stretch goal: at $2.5 million we will add an additional flyable ship, the Anvil Gladiator, to the game. The Gladiator is the civilian variant of a powerful military bomber currently being used against the Vanduul on the frontiers of the galaxy. The Anvil’s pylons can support the heaviest grade antimatter torpedoes and it has up to a pair of turrets for protection during bombing runs. In short, they’re a capital ship’s worst nightmare!

Finally: we polled the community if it would be alright to extend the overall pledge campaign by ten days to match the Kickstarter and the answer was a resounding yes. So that’s what we’re going to do; it’s going to let us put together something special for when everything finishes on November 19 at 11 am PST!

That was the nail in the coffin for me. If you have $20 million already, you don't need crowdfunding to make your stupid game. You're hopping on the crowdfunding bandwagon for the free promotion. (Though it's not like they're turning away all the free money people are throwing at them.)

Chris Roberts is beholden to his private investor(s) here, not the wishes of his fans. Not unless you guys raise at least another $19 million.

Cutter wrote on Oct 28, 2012, 10:37:I think the other thing that really bothers me is that if it's true he's already secured 20 mil in private funding he shouldn't be doing Kickstarter. While nothing specifically prohibits it, it definitely goes against the spirit of what KS is there for. In fact, his whole attitude seems to be very anti-KS.

This is a significant point, and possibly directly related to the final product.

Why would an outside investor who by all accounts would be investing up to 90% of the cost to develop, have any concerns about how much money Kickstarter raises?

Why would an outside investor forgo any say in the final product if they are investing up to 90% of the cost of development.

While I look forward to Star Citizen (and P:E and others) KS does seem to have 'undue influence' in other words, nothing about the funding model for the AAA titles has actually changed.

Trevellian - I don't see it as contradictory. First, Freelancer's multiplayer was not like what he's pitching here as far as I can tell. It was complimentary to the core singleplayer experience, and relatively limited as compared to Eve Online. Secondly, Freelancer was made with the backing of Microsoft and spent years in development. Taylor doesn't have the luxury of a monolithic publisher with virtually bottomless coffers this time. Limited resources demands limited focus. Seeing as how he intends this to be an online multiplayer game at heart with microtransactions and all, I just can't see this being a solid singleplayer game. Everything presented thus far points directly to the contrary. So barring any major revelations, I am not going to support this. I am clearly not the target audience here.

This comment was edited on Oct 28, 2012, 11:11.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I think the other thing that really bothers me is that if it's true he's already secured 20 mil in private funding he shouldn't be doing Kickstarter. While nothing specifically prohibits it, it definitely goes against the spirit of what KS is there for. In fact, his whole attitude seems to be very anti-KS.

“That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!”

Prez wrote on Oct 28, 2012, 01:13:After thinking about it, it just doesn't seem feasible that this can be a persistent online space game like 'Eve Online' and still have any real singleplayer (the only part I'm interested in) to speak of. As excited as I was when I heard that Chris Roberts was making a space sim (I played Freelancer for about a thousand hours), it pains me to say that I won't be backing this.

I'm squarely with Prez and Cutter on this(who would have ever thought I'd be typing that sentence?).

Chris Roberts, despite being Chris Roberts, cannot deliver two equally satisfying experiences in the same game when dealing with something like an open-world space sim.

Just the fact that so many of the rewards and goals give players more powerful gear and better ships is disturbing enough as is.

He's saying something on one hand and then doing something else on the other. It doesn't add up.

Neither of you guys make any sense with these comments... especially considering you envoke Freelancer. Freelancer did exactly that, it had a great story/mission driven single player game, and an open do whatever the fuck you want EVE Online style multiplayer (Granted with only like 32 players). You're contradicting yourselves just by mentioning Freelancer and saying he can't deliver both...

Prez wrote on Oct 28, 2012, 01:13:After thinking about it, it just doesn't seem feasible that this can be a persistent online space game like 'Eve Online' and still have any real singleplayer (the only part I'm interested in) to speak of. As excited as I was when I heard that Chris Roberts was making a space sim (I played Freelancer for about a thousand hours), it pains me to say that I won't be backing this.

I'm squarely with Prez and Cutter on this(who would have ever thought I'd be typing that sentence?).

Chris Roberts, despite being Chris Roberts, cannot deliver two equally satisfying experiences in the same game when dealing with something like an open-world space sim.

Just the fact that so many of the rewards and goals give players more powerful gear and better ships is disturbing enough as is.

He's saying something on one hand and then doing something else on the other. It doesn't add up.

After thinking about it, it just doesn't seem feasible that this can be a persistent online space game like 'Eve Online' and still have any real singleplayer (the only part I'm interested in) to speak of. As excited as I was when I heard that Chris Roberts was making a space sim (I played Freelancer for about a thousand hours), it pains me to say that I won't be backing this.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Sheesh when I think about that, the higher levels seem reasonable...too bad I don't have the money, I'd go in $250 for the 4-man ship.

Don't forget about all the cool shwag! Honestly I'm willing to back many kickstarter projects with $100+ pledges as long as they can give me some decent shwag. Items in game are cool but without some physical stuff to go along with it I don't feel the urge. Just confirmed my T-shirt choice for Planetary Annihilation!

I chose the $125 more for the items you get in the mail. The $250 pledge gets you a 3 inch model of one of the ships. (likely the Constellation) Plus some blueprints which might be something you could frame. Tempted to jump up to that level but not knowing what those items are exactly I'm not feeling enough incentive. Hopefully they'll put up some art towards the ending. I really do want a hornet though...

Tumbler wrote on Oct 27, 2012, 22:13:Looking forward to this a lot. I'm in for $125. Wingnut. Can't wait. Going to buy an Oculus Rift and go nuts with this game. Hopefully there will be other games that support it between now and then. I'm curious to see how Hawken looks with those goggles.

Can't wait for the Oculus Rift vs TrackIR debates that will ensue.

Not going to get burned on a $35 pledge. I've seen more than enough bad movies in the last few years that cost multiple times more than that in theaters, and even if this is Chris Roberts' worst game ever, it'll be infinitely better than sitting in a theater being subjugated to what passes for writing in the cinema these days. A fun ride, if it lasts 6 months or 6 years.

Sheesh when I think about that, the higher levels seem reasonable...too bad I don't have the money, I'd go in $250 for the 4-man ship. I'm glad they released the specs. At least I know that my little $30 rustbucket has a cargobay that hopefully can grind to the Constellation class in a hurry. Going to have to use the single engine module slot for an afterburner to run the hell away from space Romneys.

Looking forward to this a lot. I'm in for $125. Wingnut. Can't wait. Going to buy an Oculus Rift and go nuts with this game. Hopefully there will be other games that support it between now and then. I'm curious to see how Hawken looks with those goggles.

DangerDog wrote on Oct 27, 2012, 14:26:Sounds like they're just pulling shit out of their ass to pack in more money.

I predict lots of features being cut "due to technical limitations".

first up on the chopping block will be mod support, most likely.

Indeed. This sounds morfe like he's just going to do a half-assed alpha for SP because it's really about the online game, microtransactions, etc. I think a lot of people are going to get burned on this. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.

“That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!”

saluk wrote on Oct 27, 2012, 15:29:These are NOT stretch goals. This is a bit of an abuse of kickstarter. Stretch goals are things that are unable to be implemented due to time or finance constraints, that extra money will actually allow. Not cheap, unlocked, dlc that everyone gets if they raise some arbitrary amount of extra money. Some of the overall stretch goals are more reasonable.

Stretch goals are anything that a KS drive defines them to be. There's no official definition of them.

The ONLY purpose behind them is to increase donations, usually after a goal has been reached. You can bet that some KS have the stretch goals all laid out ahead of time, and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them on some KS are obtainable at the minimum goal and are held back to be goals to encourage more pledges.

KS backers should use their heads about KS drives and the goals (stretch or otherwise) to help discern whether a project is worth backing, is likely to deliver, etc.

In this specific case, sure, I agree that the repair bot is a silly stretch goal, something thats able to be produced even at minimum funding. But if it accomplishes its one and ONLY goal (of increasing pledges) then its done its job. Even if it doesn't fit an idealistic view of what a stretch goal should be

Also, keep in mind that this KS was whipped up in a hurry in a few days, so thats why its a bit disorganized.

These are NOT stretch goals. This is a bit of an abuse of kickstarter. Stretch goals are things that are unable to be implemented due to time or finance constraints, that extra money will actually allow. Not cheap, unlocked, dlc that everyone gets if they raise some arbitrary amount of extra money. Some of the overall stretch goals are more reasonable.